NC Schools offering central office, Pioneer Career Academy for sale

NEBRASKA CITY – Nebraska City School Superintendent Mark Fritch said Tuesday that the school district is listing property for sale, including the Pioneer Academy building, in an effort to relieve a financial situation.

Fritch said the school board has been working through a strategic plan and evaluation of the district’s financial situation and agreed in September to take action.  He said School Board President Kent Blum made the following statement.

Fritch: “It sounds like it is the consensus of the school board to give the superintendent of schools, Mark Fritch, the directive to pursue all avenues of increasing revenue in the form of a possible levy override election and decreasing expenditures in staffing, services, programs and facilities.”

In a December meeting, the board voted to sell the former medical clinic that has been used as the district central office and the former Food Pride building that has been used for the Pioneer Career Academy.

He said the buildings have been shown to prospective buyers.

Fritch said the directive is to evaluate all staffing and services, but to make reductions that are as far away from the students as possible.

Fritch: “One thing that is really important to understand and this is something we even talked about as a board of education is to not confuse the building, which is Pioneer Academy, with career academies. We currently offer multiple career academies that are not located in the facility called Pioneer Academy and this board would like to continue to offer those opportunities for students in the form of career academies. They don’t have to occur in that Pioneer Academy. They may, they could, but don’t confuse that the two go together. Other locations are a possibility.”

School board minutes indicate the school has reported a balance in its treasury of negative $600,000. The line of credit is used for cash flow throughout the year to make payroll when incoming taxes lag.

 

 

The school is also working to pay off a $2.4 million borrowed from tax anticipation notes.

The Pioneer Career Academy offers technical training through SCC beginning in a student’s sophomore year. Students can earn college credits at $33 per credit hour.

In 2020,  the career academy was recognized by the city for construction of park and directional signs.

 

Former superintendent Jeff Edwards

 

The public school cut a ribbon at the former Food Pride building, 1406 Central Ave., in September of 2016.

The facility provides classroom and lab space. It supplements the existing health and welding instruction.

The cost of purchasing the former Food Pride building, a new roof, renovations and equipment for construction, IT and welding academies was just under $1.5 million.